Work support



Jan. 19, 1932- 'F. N. LA CHAPELLE WORK SUPPORT Filed March 7, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F. N. LA CHAPELLE 1,841,610

worm SUPPORT Filed March 7. 1929 2 Sheets- Shae; 2

F/A/VE/V 70/? Patented Jan. 19, 1932' operation,

- other direction to ;move along-the pathlin which UNITED STAT as PATENT OFFICE FRED 1mm cHmLLE, on BEVERLY, mssnonnsnm'rs, essicrnonmo UNI ED snonmm GHINERY CORPORATION, OF IPATERSON, NEW JERSEY,

JERSEY Application filed March r,

This invention relates to work supports and is illustrated herein as embodied in a fastening inserting machine such as is used in the manufacture of boots and shoes. Although the invention has especial utility in machines for inserting fastenings, it will be understood that theinvention-is applicable to other types of'machinesand is capable of utilizationin connection with othertypes of work support-s thanthat illustrated.

7 In" machines for inserting fastenings in shoes, where the position of the fasteningsis determined by a gage, against which the shoe is maintained during the fastening inserting it is necessary for theoperator to use considerable care to hold the work supportso' asto maintain pressure on the shoe in a direction to keep it in contact with the gage, whileheis maintaining pressure in anand guidethe shoe the fastenings vare to be located with the work support usting itself to each new position. 8

It-isanobject ofthe present inventioncto maintain the work support in position to keep the shoe incontact with the gage in orderthat the operator may be-relieved from 'this'in guiding and feedingthe attending to shoe relatively to the fastening inserting 1nstrumentalities. 7 7

It" is a further object of the invention to arrange the mechanism-for the above purpose in such a way that it will not interfere with the operator when he-is placing a shoeon the timethat the i work support or removingit therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to providemechanism forthe above purposes which may be conveniently added to existing'machines already in use factories without necessitating the return of the machine to the manufacturer-thereof for changes.

In accordance withthe above objects, a feature of the invention consists in yielding means for maintaining the shoe support with the shoe in contact with the gage shoe is being operated upon and inproviding means forrelieving the pressure of the yieldingmeans when the work support is positioned for the operator and claims during the to remove a wonK snrron'r 1929. Serial 'No. 345,108.

shoe that has been operated upon and for pre senting another shoe to be operated upon.

A CORPORATION on NEW Another feature of the invention consists in 7 novel means for connecting a spring to the work supporter jack sothat the spring may be readily removed and replaced when neces- 1 5 r 1 Other features and objects of the invention will appear fromv the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich Fig. 1 is a side elevation of afastening in sertingmachine constructed and equipped in accordance with the prior United States pat-- ents referred to hereinafter and provided with the controlling mechanism-of the present ine. vention, the-parts being in position forthe insertion offastenings; Fig. 2 is 'a side elevation showing the parts of, the present invention, and itsrelatedmechi anism, in position for'placing in the machine. the shoes to be operated upon and for withdrawingthemlafter the operation has been completed this position being hereinafter, re ferred to as work receiving position;

Fig. 3' is a front elevation of the parts shown inFig. 2 ,and

Fig. 4 is a detail showing the preferred means for connecting a spring to the jack.

In the illustrated embodiment of the pres-' ent invention it is shown as applied to a fastening inserting machine equipped sub-i stantialiy as is the machineillustrated: in LettersPatent of the United States No. 1,587,8d8, granted June 8, 1926, on an application filed in the name of Fred :L. 'MacKenzie but with therat'chet and pawl mechanism of the horn release mechanism modified as shown in Fig; 23 of Letters Patent of the United States, No. 1,686,808, granted October 9, 1928, on anapplication filed in the names of George Goddu and Fred L. 'MacKenzie. These patents,;and No1,011,941, mentioned below, covering a single treadle mechanism, and 1 granted Deceniber 19, 1911, onran applicationfiled in the :name of George Goddu, should. be referred to for a, detailed description of thermachine, the operation of which will beonly briefly described hereinif y, The machine" is pr'ovided with the usual loo fastening inserting mechanism indicated in general by the reference character 10 and with the usual work abutment 12 and work gage 14. These parts are mounted in the head 16, which is supported on the column 18 which, in turn, is mounted on the base 20 of the machine. The work supporting mechanism is mounted on a horn post 22 which is movable up and down by means of a twopart lever 24, 26 controlledby a connecting rod 28 and treadle 29, the treadle being mounted on a fixed pivot 30. By this mechanism the work supporting mechanism can be clamped in fastening receiving position under the tension of the spring 31 by depression of the treadle 29 and, when the treadle is released, the work supporting mechanism is brought into work receiving position, all in the manner described in United States Patent N 0. 1,011,941 referred to above. Patent N 0. 1,587,848, previously mentioned,

shows and describes the mechanism by whichthework support is lowered slightly, through the action of a vertically reciprocating rod having the reference character 134 in that patent and 32 herein, to permit the work to be fed during each cycle of operations. The rod 32 and connected mechanism accomplishes this by breaking and straightening the toggle 34, 36. The treadle 29, during its final downward movement, also starts the fastening inserting mechanism by lifting the rod 38. On the upper end of the horn post 22 is carried the work supporting mechanism, indicated generally by the reference numeral 40. This mechanism may be, and as illustrated is, identical in construction with the so-called automatic jack mechanism shown in said United States Patent N 0. 1,587,848.

The mechanism so far described, together with the work support 42, are identical with the constructions shown in the various patents referred to and need not be described further herein.

A last, carrying a shoe to be operated upon, is placed by the operator on a last pin 48 on the work support 42 and, in order to maintain the shoe in yielding contact with the gage 14 during the fastening inserting operation, the illustrated embodiment of the invention provides a torsion spring 44, together with associated mechanism, for this purpose. This spring 44 is conveniently connected to the work support 42 by a strap 46 which embraces the work support 42 and which is provided near its outer ends with oppositely positioned slots 48 and 50, so that oppositely directed cars 52 and 54 are formed. (See Fig. 4.) It will be noted that, with this construction, the strap 46 may be connected to the spring 44 by rotating the spring in such a manner that one portion of the horizontal part 56 may be moved up into the slot 48 while the other end is moved down into the slot 50. After being thus positioned by rotating the spring into complete engagement with the ears 52 and 54 so that the support, strap and spring are permanently connected together with a sliding fit between the strap and support, the ends of the spring can be inserted in holes in a swivel bracket 58 and clamped by set screws 60. The swivel bracket 58 is pivoted on a short shaft 62. This mounting permits the usual lateral movement of the work support 42, the bracket 58 swivelling to accommodate such movement. The shaft 61 is carried by a bracket 64 which is mounted on a pivot shaft 66 carried by a plate 68 on the so-called automatic jack mechanism. Movement of the bracket 64 about the shaft 66 therefore varies the position and tension of the spring 44.

Means are provided to move the bracket 64 so as to remove the tension of the spring 44 when the work support 42 is in the work receiving position indicated in Fig. 2 and for applying yielding pressure when the work support is positioned, as in Fig. 1, for the work to be operated upon. This is accomplished by a lost motion connection between the pivoted bracket 64 and the treadle 29. The rear of the bracket 64 is provided with a depending rod 70 upon which is an adjustable collar 72. The rod 70 passes freely through a vertical opening 74 in an arm 76 which is clamped to a rod 78 connecting the treadle with the so-called automatic jack mechanism as described in said Patent N 0. 1,587,848. When the treadle 29 is depressed and the rod 78 descends to operate said mechanism, the rod carries the arm 76 down until its end strikes the collar 72. This causes the rod 70 to descend with the rod 78 and the descent of the rod 70 swings the bracket 64 to tension the spring 44 against the work support 42 to hold the shoe yieldingly in contact with the gage 14. Upon movement of the treadle upwardly, reverse movement takes place and the work support 42 is freed from the yielding tension of the spring 44 so that the operator may bring the work support 42 into work receiving position without any resistance by the spring 44. 1

The operation of the machine with the improvement of the present invention incorporated therein may be summarized as follows: WVith the parts in the position shown in Fig. 2 a last carrying a shoe is put on the last pin 43 upon the work support 42 and the work support moved by the operator until the shoe is approximately in position to be operated upon. The operator then depresses the treadle 29 and the automatic jack mechanism is operated by the descent of the rod 78, as described in said Patent N 0. 1,587,848 to place the work under the light spring pressure of the springs 80, at which time the position of the work may be readjusted for the insertion of the first fastening. Further'depression of the treadle increases the pressure of the Work against the abutment 12 through downward motion of the rod 28 which operates the twopart lever 24, 26 and finally puts the work under the tension of the heavy spring 31, which is strong enough to support the work against the action of the fastening inserting instrumentalities. During this time-down ward movement of the rod 7 8 depresses the rod 70 through with the collar 7 2 and continued movement then applies yielding pressure to the spring 4%, to maintain the shoe yieldingly in contact with the gage 14 without further effort upon the part of the operator. By this time the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1 and the lost motion between the treadle 29 and the rod 38 has been taken up so that the final depression of the treadle 29 lifts the rod 38 to engage the clutch mechanism and so start the fastening inserting mechanism. When this starts, the operator then turns the shoe about the last pin 43 on the work support 42 to feed the shoe between fastening inserting operations. As the shoe is turned, the tension on the spring 44: maintains the shoe in contact with the gage l i, thus relieving the operator of the necessity of maintaining the shoe in contact with the gage. When the desired number of fastenings have been inserted, the operator lifts up on the treadle 29 and the operations take place in reverse sequence, descent of the rod 38 stopping the fastening inserting mechanism, ascent of the rod 28 lowering the jack, ascent of the rod 78 putting the automatic jack mechanism in condition for the next/operation, and the separation of the arm 7 6 from the collar 7 2 relieving the tension of the spring 4% so that the work support as is unrestrained by the spring, enabling the operator to remove the completed shoe easily and to substitute another one therefor. 4

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machinehaving a longitudinally and transversely movable work support and a gage against which the work on the support is positioned while being operated upon to control the transverse movement of the work sup port, the combination of yielding means operable to maintain the work support with the work in contact with the gage but normally inoperative, and means for rendering said yielding means operative. c 2. In a machine having a movable work support and a gage against which the work on the support is positioned in a plane substantially perpendicular to the line of longitudinal movement while being operated upon,

the combination of yielding means for maintaining the work support with the work incontact with the gage, and means for rendering said yielding means'inoperative; I

the arm 7 6 coming in contact 7 longitudinally 2 connection between the 3. :In a'machinehaving a vertically :IIIOYI able workisupport and a gage against which the work on the support is positioned in .a

substantially horizontal plane while being operated upon, the combination of a spring constructed andarranged when operative to maintain the work support with the work in contact. with the gage, and means for render ing said "spring either'operative or ino-pera tive.

4. In a machine havinga work support and a gage against which the work on the support is positioned while being operated upon the combination of a spring for maintaining the work support with the work in contact with the. gage, spring :is connected, and. means under the control of: the operator for moving said bracket to render the spring inoperative 5. In a machine. having a worksupport and a gage-against which the work on the support is positioned while being operated upon, the combination of a spring arranged to maintain the work support with the work in contact with the gage, a movable bracket to which the spring is connected, and means a movable'bracket to which the under the control of the operator for moving- 6. In a fastening inserting machine, thecombination of fastening inserting instrumentalities, a work support, a gage against which the work on the support is positioned when receiving fastenings, a spring for maintaining the work support with the work in contact with the gage, a pivotally mounted bracket to which the spring is connected, and means under the control of the operator for pivotally moving said bracket to render the spring inoperative.

7. In a machine having a work support and a gage against which the work on the support is positioned while being operated upon, the combination of a spring for maintaining the work support with the work in contact with the gage, a movable bracket to which the springis connected, and a single means under the control of the operator for moving the work support and said bracket to move the work support into work receiving position and to move said bracket into a position to render the spring inoperative.

8. In a fastening inserting machine,"the,

when receiving fastenings, yielding means for maintaining the work support with the work I in contact with the gage, a movable bracket 1 to which the yielding means is connected, a

treadle under the control of the operator for moving said work support into work receiving 7 position and for controlling'the fastening inserting instrumentalities, and a lost motion treadle and the bracket for rendering the yielding means operative or inoperative in timed relation with movement of the treadle.

9. A work support mechanism, having, in combination, a work support, a spring for positioning the Work support yieldingly, a member on the work support, oppositely directed ears on said member into which ears the spring may be positioned by rotation and which ears constitute a permanent connection between the support, the member and the spring after the spring has been rotated into complete engagement with the ears, and a second member to which the spring is connected after said rotation.

10. In a fastening inserting machine, the combination of fastening inserting instrumentalities, a work support, a gage against which the Work on the support is positioned When receiving fastenings, a spring for main taining the Work support With the WOl'k in contact with the gage, a strap embracing the work support, oppositely directed ears at the ends of the strap into which the spring may be positioned by rotation and which ears constitute a permanent connection between the support, the strap and the spring after the spring has been rotated into complete engagement with the ears, a movable bracket to which the spring is connected after said rotation, and means under the control of the operator for moving said bracket to change the tension of the spring.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

' FRED N. LA OHAPELLE. 

